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When Life Gives You Lemons…or White Elephants

The gifts have been opened, the mess has been cleaned up, the decorations have been put away, and the decadent leftovers have all been eaten or disposed of; all that’s left are the memories. Well, not quite!

At the Huffman family celebration, I suggested a white elephant gift exchange, instructing family members to bring something they already had and no longer needed. We would, then, do our traditional “steal the gift” game with everyone trying to get the least, least-desirable gift. Legal re-gifting, as my SIL called it. I made only one stipulation: You must take the gift you end up with home with you.

Some people just can’t follow instructions. The next morning, when I opened my cabinet to get a cup for my first cup of coffee, this greeted me.
All I can say is, my son had better be glad he didn’t put it in the refrigerator!

In their defense, it was obvious that several of my family members had not participated in white elephant exchanges before. My younger brother cleaned out an entire shelf in his hobby room and wrapped it in a box. My older brother’s wife did the same, but she was clever enough to pretty-up the package and trick her own daughter into picking it. Terri wanted to leave the whole kit and kaboodle, but I was very selective. There were two little, ugly, gold mirrors and a planter that I agreed to take. Don’t ever under estimate gold mirrors. I wish I had taken a picture of before, because it’s truly amazing what a little paint will do. I sprayed on white primer and later brushed on the sea glass blue. After it dried, I rubbed on a little antique glaze and wiped it down, leaving dark areas in the crevices.
I decided I needed to shabby it up a little, so I added some burlap strips and some woven brown ribbon.
And here are the pair of them displayed with some metal work in back and another with the burlap bookends I made last year.
I also shabbied up some plain Jane candle holders to add to the grouping. Some natural burlap strips, ruffled by pulling a string partly through, some jute twine tied into little bows, the new glue gun I got for Christmas,and some strips of string to match the mirrors achieved this.

Pretty chic, huh? I’ll bet my niece is going to want them back.
But what on earth am I going to do with this ancient headlamp?
Any suggestions…other than never do a white elephant gift exchange at your house again?